IndyCar Series Sees Viewership Bump During Second Season On Versus

The '10 Izod IndyCar Series' second season on Versus averaged 366,000 viewers for 12 telecasts, an increase of 16.2% from 315,000 viewers last year, but still a long way from the 778,000 viewers that ESPN/ESPN2 averaged in '08 for 11 races. The season finale Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway saw a 34% jump in viewers from last year, benefiting from Versus being in 11 million more homes this October compared to the finale in October '09. Versus aired the final seven races of the '10 season, averaging 316,000 viewers for those events. That is up 8.2% from 292,000 viewers for the net's final seven telecasts last year. ABC's four telecasts, which included the Indianapolis 500, averaged 2.696 million viewers, up 2.3% from 2.636 million viewers in '09 (Austin Karp, THE DAILY). SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Tripp Mickle notes in addition to "television and attendance increases, the series added 14 new sponsors in the last 12 months." Izod IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard: "I feel really good about where we’re at. When we did the deal with Versus, it was with long-term thinking and confidence in Comcast. When they’re able to close this acquisition with NBC, it’s going to be a big positive” (SBJ, 10/4 issue).

'10 IZOD INDYCAR SERIES RACE-BY-RACE VIEWERSHIP

DATE

RACE

VENUE

NET

START (ET)

VIEWERS (000)

3/14

Sao Paulo Indy 300

Streets of São Paulo

Versus

11:54am

411

3/29

Honda Grand Prix of
St. Petersburg*

Streets of St. Petersburg

ESPN2

n/a

n/a

4/11

Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Barber Motorsports Park

Versus

3:49pm

310

4/18

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Streets of Long Beach

Versus

4:21pm

490

5/1

Road Runner Turbo Indy 300

Kansas Speedway

ABC

1:30pm

969

5/30

Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor
Speedway

ABC

1:00pm

5,793

6/5

Firestone 550k

Texas Motor Speedway

Versus

8:04pm

518

6/20

Iowa Corn Indy 250

Iowa Speedway

Versus

2:07pm

400

7/4

Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen

Watkins Glen Int'l

ABC

3:30pm

1,085

7/18

Honda Indy Toronto

Streets of Toronto

ABC

3:30pm

1,348

7/25

Honda Indy Edmonton

Edmonton City
Centre Airport

Versus

5:45pm

322

8/8

Honda Indy 200

Mid-Ohio Sports
Car Course

Versus

3:11pm

344

8/22

Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County

Infineon Raceway

Versus

5:41pm

386

8/28

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300

Chicagoland Speedway

Versus

7:42pm

375

9/4

Kentucky 300

Kentucky Speedway

Versus

8:43pm

251

9/19

Indy Japan 300

Twin Ring Motegi

Versus

12:04am

181

10/2

Cafes do Brasil Indy 300

Homestead-Miami
Speedway

Versus

6:53pm

360

NOTE: * = race was scheduled for ABC, but was rained out on Sunday and run on the following Monday on ESPN2.